


These Spirits That I've Cited

by dawnstruck



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist (Anime 2003), Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types
Genre: Demon!Ed, Humor, M/M, Magic AU, sorcerer!Roy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-28
Updated: 2016-01-28
Packaged: 2018-05-16 21:39:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5841949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dawnstruck/pseuds/dawnstruck
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One lazy Sunday afternoon, Roy summons an all-powerful demon that then proceeds to eat everything in the house and slowly drives Roy to madness in more ways than just one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	These Spirits That I've Cited

**Author's Note:**

> This is the actually the first fma story I started writing back in summer and I only just finished it now because I wrote most of it on paper and I was too lazy to type it all up.  
> Fair warning, it does not make much sense in terms of world-building and neither does it in most other regards, but what the heck, I wanted snarky demon!Ed, so I wrote it. There may be some parellels to the Bartimaeus trilogy, but I read that ages ago so I don't actually know.  
> Also, I should probably edit this once I'm more awake.

He'd drawn the heavy curtains over the windows so his study was only lit by the candles he had strategically placed throughout the room. The dancing flames drew eerie shadows against the walls.

Other people probably did different things to pass the time on their Sunday afternoons, had tea or read a good book. But Roy's hobbies had never been quite as commonplace.

For the n-th time, he meticulously checked over the circle he had drawn onto the wooden floorboards, the white chalk seeming yellow in the fire, and his eyes narrowed as he mentally went over the meaning and function of every single detail.

Everything was perfect.

Taking a deep breath, he began to recite the incantation.

Summoning spells were notoriously difficult because so much as one tiny mistake could cost you your life, but Roy was confident in his own abilities. Even when calling forth a powerful creature such as this.

As soon as he had spoken the last word, a pillar of smoke burst from the circle towards the ceiling and the stench of sulfur filled the room. Roy suppressed the urge to flinch back, just stood strong and held his ground. He would not fall for such meager intimidation techniques.

Maybe the demon realized this, too, because the fumes were gone as soon as they had appeared.

In their stead materialized no horned beast, no gruesome grimace, but a boy.

An adolescent, really, but short for his supposed age. Apart from his eyes, sharp and yellow like a cat's, he seemed human enough. Pretty even, with fine features and long corn-silk hair that peeked over his shoulder in a thick braid. He was wearing a blood red coat over otherwise black clothes, white gloves covering his hands.

He tilted his head to the side, gave Roy a calculating look, poked a finger into his own ear and, in a decidedly bored tone, asked, “So, what century is this?”

Roy stared. He would've liked to say that it was an attempt to stare the demon down into submission, but really, he just stared, dumbfounded.

Still, he forced himself to keep his composure.

“I have summoned you, Demon, to obey my command,” he intoned imperiously.

“Yeah yeah,” the creature waved him off and then neatly stepped out of the circle, “Do you have any grub?”

 

Against Roy's express orders, the demon (“Edward, but just call me Ed.”) proceeded to inspect his entire house, found the kitchen and then decided to raid the pantry.

“Good stuff,” the creature declared, plonked down on the floor and dug the fingers of his now naked left hand into a jar of raspberry jam. Gracia had made that jam and Maes would never forgive him.

Roy could only watch as the creature licked its fingers clean and then made a grab for a bag of peanuts.

“I demand an answer, Demon,” Roy tried after several failed attempts to vanquish the thing again.

“Will you stop calling me that, you bastard,” it said again, giving him an annoyed glare, “It's mighty impolite, y'know?”

Roy closed his eyes for a very long moment.

“Edward,” he began once more, noting how the boy's eyebrows lifted in approval, “I summoned you and now I want you gone again. So leave.”

“See, that's not how it works,” Ed told him pointedly, “You knocked on my door and I opened it out of curiosity. But you didn't drag me out of the threshold. I'm here out of my own free will. And I'm staying.”

Roy swallowed. He had not anticipated this.

“There must be something I could give you in exchange,” he said, recalling have read of similar trades, “A payment so that you return to your world.”

But Ed just sent him another on those measuring looks with his unsettling yellow eyes.

“Fine,” he huffed eventually, blowing the fringe out of his face before throwing a handful of peanuts into his mouth, chewing quite loudly and visibly, “I demand a blood sacrifice.”

Nervously, Roy licked his lips, “What kind of blood sacrifice?”

Edward gave an off-handed shrug, “That's for me to decide and for you to find out.”

Finally Roy's knees buckled from under him and he sagged back against the kitchen cabinet, only just now realizing the consequences of his foolishness.

“Oh hell,” he muttered under his breath.

“Not quite where I came from,” Ed corrected, “But close enough.”

Then, “Oh look! You've got sardines!”

 

He'd found several mentions, mostly vague and too insubstantial to be of any use, in a couple dozen works spanning more than eleven centuries.

But only the old tome he had dug out of the inheritance of a wealthy but rather disorganized collector had finally yielded the longed-for instructions for a summoning.

It almost seemed like fate.

Roy just had to try it, forever fascinated by this strange being.

They had called him many names, or none at all. There were references to his nature – volatile and not to be tamed – and his powers – vast, endless, incomprehensible.

The older texts tended to present him as more of a sprite than a demon, written in obscure languages, more like poetry. A dangerous promise that spoke of a steel touch, of cold fingers.

Fullmetal, one particular verse baptized him, naming him side by side with the 'Armored One'.

But Roy had only wanted Fullmetal. And now he had gotten him. Just not in the way he had imagined.

 

By Monday morning Roy didn't know what to do. He'd barely slept the night, fearing for his life with a supernatural creature at loose, especially after the blatant mention of the blood sacrifice.

He needn't have worried, though. When he came downstairs, he found Ed conked out on the sofa, sleeping peacefully, even if that might not be the best word when thinking of a demon.

For all Roy knew that thing could have been eating all the babies in the neighborhood.

Yet as soon as he began preparing breakfast and the scent of bacon filled the air his unwelcome guest was roused from slumber and drawn into the kitchen.

“Make sure you make enough for two, bastard,” Ed admonished and simply dropped more bacon into the frying pan, then watched it sizzle for a few moments while Roy could only stare some more, hoping the disbelief was not to apparent on his face.

“Y'know what,” Ed decided, “Just cook it all.”

And he dumped the rest of the package into the pan as well.

“Excuse you,” Roy said and blinked.

“What?” Ed shrugged, “I'm hungry.”

Roy should probably consider himself grateful that the demon just wanted to eat his bacon instead of, say, _him_ but he still felt rather inconvenienced.

“I'll have to leave for work soon,” he told Ed when they had sat down for breakfast and the creature was digging in quite happily.

The whole situation felt rather bizarre.

“Yeah so?” Ed asked around a mouthful of eggs, barely even looking up.

Roy took a calming breath, “Can I trust you not to destroy anything or kill anyone while I'm gone?”

It was foolish, of course, to trust a demon. But it was the only option he had left at the moment.

“Well, I wasn't committing murder while you were snoring away upstairs, was I?” Ed teased easily.

“I don't snore,” Roy replied out of reflex.

“Keep telling yourself that, bastard,” Ed grinned and downed his coffee.

 

“You look tense, sir,” Riza told him, the implied question obvious enough.

“Just didn't sleep well last night,” he answered and, strictly speaking, it wasn't even a lie.

 

Upon his return in the late afternoon, his house was still standing. Nevertheless, Roy took a moment to brace himself for the worst before he unlocked the front door.

The hallway was silent. There were no signs of destruction, no smell of fire.

Maybe he finally left, Roy hoped hesitantly, yet when he stepped into the living room Ed was still there, sprawled out on the sofa and taking a nap.

Roy sighed. He'd have to hit the books again.

 

Nothing. Nothing. There were no answers anywhere.

Roy had of course already tried all of the more common vanquishing and release spells, but none of them seemed to work. But none of the texts offered up alternative solutions either.

Would Fullmetal only leave on his own terms again? Would he leave at all?

“Hey, bastard,” Ed asked from the doorway as it was getting dark and Roy was sitting slumped over his books in the study. “When are you going to feed me?”

“Feed yourself,” Roy mumbled into his folded arms, not even looking up. Ed seemed to wait a moment for him to change his mind, then he shuffled, waited some more, and finally Roy could hear his steps on the stairs, leaving.

Fifteen minutes later he was back.

“I ate your neighbors' poodle,” he told Roy, sounding rather smug, “Have fun explaining that.”

“My neighbors don't have a poodle,” Roy pointed out dryly.

“Not anymore, they don't,” Ed returned and then gave a big, put-upon sigh, “C'mon and feed me, you ass. You brought me into this world so take some responsibility, dammit.”

“I'm not your mother,” Roy said and this time it was the wrong answer. He could practically feel Ed's temper flare. The scholars likening him to sparks hitting off steel had not exaggerated.

“No, you're right, you're not my mother,” the demon hissed, “You're just the bastard who summoned me without proper precautions. You just wanted to control me to get some fucked-up power trip and now you're totally out of our depth!”

He was seething now and Roy had sat up straight in his chair. Were the walls really trembling around him or was that just his imagination? Yet Ed stood in the doorway, short and humanoid and stupidly dangerous.

“It if had been anyone but me,” he growled, thumping a fist against his chest, “Anyone malign or plain out of whack – this whole place would have been leveled by now. Your whole city! You want that? Cuz I can do that!”

Numbly, Roy shook his head.

“Good,” Ed said with some vehemence but at once the house stopped shaking, “So the least you can do is feed me some decent dinner.”

 

Just how serious Ed was about food became apparent two days later when Roy came home to find the side of his sofa all chewed up.

“The pantry was empty,” Ed explained simply, picking bits of cushion filling from his teeth.

Better the sofa than actual people, Roy reminded himself, though his left eyebrow ticked upwards.

“You want steak or salmon for dinner?” he asked instead.

“Both,” Ed decided, “Now be a good bastard and get to it.”

“You know,” Roy said slowly, going for an amicable tone, “Since I've followed your wishes and stopped calling you a demon, how about you call me by my name as well?”

Ed gave him a blank look. Then, an innocent smile spread over his face.

“But you never even told me your name,” he pointed out, and to Roy's chagrin it was the truth. But then something else occurred to him.

“You've probably already gone through my mail anyway, right?” he asked and at once Ed's smile morphed into a saucy grin.

“'course I did,” he said cheekily, stretching his body along the length of the violated couch, “So, what shall I call you then? Colonel or just Mustang? And don't even start again with that 'call me Master'-crap.”

“Just Roy will be fine,” Roy sighed, but was gratified to see that for the first time since their short acquaintance there was something like surprise on Edward's face.

 

Living with Ed was very similar to having a disobedient cat. One time Roy found him napping on the upmost shelf in his study, having knocked down all the books there. Another time Ed dumped all the milk down the drain because he 'hated that stuff'.

It was inconvenient, but not dangerous. Getting rid of Ed became less and less of a priority. Instead, Roy found out that the demon had more knowledge about supernatural powers than any mortal could ever hope to amass.

“Your circle was fine,” Ed explained, curiously going over Roy's notes, “For the small fish, at least. But for me, all it did was open a passage to enter this plane. Your security measures are shit, though. Especially here. What's that even meant to achieve? That'll give me heartburn at best.”

Apart from his inhuman hunger, however, Ed did not seem to make much use of his powers.

Once, when he was too impatient to wait for his pork chop to be done, he simply fired it up himself. Unfortunately, it only ended up completely charred. He demanded Roy's pork chop instead to which Roy refused. Roy went to bed hungry that night.

Sometimes Ed answered the phone and acted as though people had dialed the wrong number, changing his voice to that of a confused old woman or talking in an unintelligible language that Roy would bet had been dead for at least a thousand years.

Other than that, though, Ed didn't give away much about himself.

“How is it over there?” Roy asked, “On the other side, I mean.”

Because humans could only guess, only knew that there was another plane of existence where all the demons mingled in one way or another.

“Kinda boring,” Ed shrugged, “I mostly only go back for Al.”

Roy frowned, “Who is Al?”

“My little brother.” Said off-handedly, casually. Yet demons did not have siblings, only comrades and something that only loosely translated to kin. But Roy knew at once who he was referring to.

“The Armored One,” he recalled, “That's your brother?”

“Yup,” Ed nodded, but then it puttered off and he seemed a little wistful, “I miss him.”

 

Ed's demand for pie on Sunday became somewhat more understandable when Roy found him sitting in the kitchen with another guest.

Upon entering, Roy nearly dropped the pie he'd gotten from Gracia, not only because Ed had properly set the table for once but because there was a huge suit of armor sitting across from him.

“Hey, bastard,” Ed greeted casually, “I invited my little brother, that okay?”

“Good afternoon, Colonel Mustang,” the armor said very politely and with the voice of a young boy, “Thank you for taking care of my brother”

“You're welcome,” Roy replied slowly and trailed off.

“Alphonse,” the armor told him helpfully and Roy gave a gracious nod before setting down the pie in the middle of the table as though he regularly entertained demons for tea.

Alphonse and Edward, he mused. Those were not the names of supernatural beings.

“So...,” Roy tried when he had sat down and watched as Ed helped himself to half of the pie. Al had a plate sitting in front of him but for some reason he wasn't touching any of the food.

“How did Alphonse come to be in this world as well?” Roy asked, sending Ed a narrow-eyed glare over the rim of his cup.

“Oh,” Ed hummed around his fork, “I summoned him.”

Roy very nearly spat out his coffee.

Demons couldn't summon each other. Demons couldn't operate freely on this plane. Demons couldn't do the things humans did.

Edward apparently could.

By all what was holy, just what kind of being had Roy brought into his life?

 

Alphonse left later that evening, profusely thanking Roy as though he had been cordially invited, and reminding Edward to behave.

Then he disappeared in a small cloud of smoke and sulfur.

“So that was your little brother,” Roy concluded, keeping his voice mild.

“Yup,” Ed agreed and flopped down onto the sofa, kicking his heels, “Glad you finally got that.”

Roy was silent for a long moment. Then, “That armor was empty, wasn't it?”

Ed stilled. It was barely noticeable but Roy caught it nevertheless. He'd been learning to read Ed for the past three weeks now, after all.

“Yeah,” he replied eventually and gave a quiet sigh.

“Is that why he had to go back so early while I'm still stuck with you?” Roy tried for a vaguely teasing tone. Ed didn't like to be pushed.

“Kinda,” Ed shrugged, “I don't feel the itch as much as he does.”

Roy raised an eyebrow, “The itch?”

“It's sort of-,” Ed ran his gloved hands over his arms and gave a slight shudder, “Like ants crawling over your body, under your skin, into your head. It gets worse the longer you stay here, till it drowns out everything else.”

He looked more than just disgusted, though. He looked haunted.

“And then?” Roy prompted and the moment was gone.

Another shrug. “Then you have to go back.”

“And when will your itch have you go back?” Roy wanted to know.

“Hhm, I don't know,” Edward hummed, “Maybe weeks, maybe months.”

“Dear God,” Roy groaned, “Please save me.”

But Ed only gave a dark laugh.

“If you believed in God,” he knew, “You wouldn't have dared to summon me.”

 

They settled into something of a routine.

Roy would go to work and buy copious amounts of food, and in the evenings they'd try to improve Ed's cooking skills, all the while discussing Roy's private research, as well as science and politics. It should not come as a surprise that a being as old as Edward would have such vast and varied interests but it was still strange to have such lively discussions with someone who looked so young.

“You look good,” Maes told him one day, more than over a month after Riza had observed the exact opposite, “Relaxed, somehow. Any reason for that?”

“I'm just taking things as they come,” Roy replied blithely and it was kind of the truth.

 

“Have you ever heard of the Seven Deadly Sins?” Roy asked innocuously, turning a page in his book. He was sitting in his armchair but from the corner of his eye he could see Ed stiffen on the couch.

“Don't,” Edward said and there was a hard edge in his voice, “Don't even think about it.”

“I'm not-,” Roy tried to defend himself, caught off guard by the sudden vehemence.

“Like hell you aren't.” In a flash, Edward was above him, feet planted on either armrest of Roy's seat, hands braced on his hips, and he was bending forward so that their faces were merely an inch apart.

“You're thinking of summoning them,” Ed hisses, his eyes flashing with fire, “So don't. They're called _Deadly_ Sins for a reason. And you've already proven that you like to bite off more than you can chew.”

Ignoring the way his heart was racing, Roy gave a solemn nod. Ed bequeathed him with a long assessing look.

“Good,” he concurred finally and jumped back onto his sofa, “Smart decision.”

Roy took a moment to regain his bearings.

“You've met them then, I gather?” he asked in that same bland voice from before.

“Oh yeah,” Ed snorted with little amusement, “And trust me when I say that you really don't wanna.”

 

“You were human once, weren't you?”

Ed had dragged the armchair over to the open window and was relishing in the golden light of autumn that streamed into the room. He didn't seem like he had been expecting the question, but not like he was surprised by it either.

“Yeah,” he said at length and blinked open his yellow eyes, “It's been a long time, though.”

Roy leaned against the wall next to the window, crossing his arms and turning his head so he could glance outside as well.

“Then what happened?”

Edward scoffed, “Stupidity. Hubris. Call it what you will. I made a mistake, a bad one. Al lost his body. And I... I lost this.”

And he rolled up the sleeve of his right arm, exposing metal instead of flesh. Suddenly, Roy realized that Ed always kept on his clothes, even wore his gloves indoors most of the time.

“My left leg, too,” Ed continued and thumped a fist against the limb, “Looking back I realize that it was nothing. Nothing compared to losing my humanity.”

Roy swallowed, “How can that even happen?”

“You ever heard of the Gate?” Ed asked and ran a tongue over his teeth, “No, I guess not. That knowledge has long since been lost.”

He fell silent, maybe searching for words, maybe battling his own emotions.

“The Gate is the pathway between this world and that of what you call demons. The Gate is a guardian, but also a gaoler. I had thought that maybe it also separated the world of the living and that of the dead, but I was wrong. It's much more terrifying than that.”

He broke off, swallowed.

“It's... truth. And terror,” he explained though it didn't make much sense to Roy, “When I tried to get back Al's body and my limbs, it took all of us instead. It... converted us, deformed us. Clawed our humanity out of every crevice, every fiber of our being. We're... more than demons but less than humans. Or, heck, maybe it's the other way round, I don't know.”

“So now you're caught there,” Roy concluded, his throat dry.

“Mostly,” Ed agreed and then gave an impish grin, “But sometimes idiots like you allow me to come out and play.”

 

Roy woke to a cool touch on his skin and hot embers in his guts. The heat was quickly pinpointed as arousal but the smooth caresses were much harder to place.

“You're awake,” Ed observed calmly as Roy blinked up into the dark.

Outside, dawn was still far away, and his very own demon had crawled into bed with him.

“What are you doing,” Roy said, his voice hoarse as metal fingers ran over his exposed chest, lightly teasing.

“What does it look like, bastard?” Ed asked and laughed, quite and much too close to his ear.

Seduction, Roy thought but didn't dare voice it, afraid of making it all the more real.

Lifting his right hand, he snapped his fingers. At once, the candle on the bedside table sprang to life, dispelling the darkness.

The flame painted gold across Edward's face and made his eyes dance. He was naked, Roy realized, naked and willing and pressed up close.

“Are you an incubus?” he ventured carefully, insanely wondering whether 'succubus' wouldn't fit better.

Yet Ed only chuckled again.

“No,” he whispered, his breath brushing over the side of Roy's face, quickly followed by the wet drag of his mouth, “But you could pretend, if you like.”

And Roy thought of this enigmatic creature that had invaded his life two months ago, marveled at this compact mystery that seemed to contain thunderstorms under its skins, that burned toast and ate sofa cushions and ridiculed Roy's taste in music.

“We can't do this,” Roy ground out as Ed's hand wandered lower, yet at the protest it immediately stilled.

“What?” he growled, a dangerous challenge, “Because I'm not human enough?”

“God, no,” Roy gasped, clenching his eyes shut, “Because you're _too_ human. Edward, you look like a fifteen year old boy, I can't possibly-”

“Oh,” Ed cut him off, sounding somewhat amused, “Is that all? Cuz I can change that.”

When Roy dared to open his eyes again he was looking up at a young man who was still undeniably Edward. Maybe he was nineteen, maybe twenty-three. Or maybe he was an immortal being and older than Roy could ever fathom.

“Better?” Ed asked cheekily and kissed him.

The scriptures had mentioned none of that, Roy mused, his thoughts faint. Nothing of flame licking into you, no poetry of being scorched and scaled, inside and out. And, hell, he had never felt this good.

Ed naked was all scars and smooth skin, was steel and sticky heat. When Roy kissed him he tasted of salt and sweat and just the barest hint of sulfur.

Just kissing like that had Roy ready and aching for more within moments, even if his brain was slow to catch up. Ed seemed less tentative. Flinging the blanket back, he threw a leg over Roy's lap, straddling him. Instinctively, Roy arched up, let out a quiet breath. A second later, Ed was already sinking down on his hard cock.

Roy almost gasped out a warning but it got stuck in his throat when he was engulfed by warm and wet and waiting.

Of course. The all-powerful being that could simply change its body's appearance didn't waste time on extra preparation.

Ed gave a low, heady moan as he lifted himself up and slammed down again, his head thrown back and hair flowing loose. Roy could only hold on to his hips and get caught up in the inferno.

From his periphery, he could see Ed's shadow against the wall, atop of him, an arching quivering silhouette, slave to the flame. But Roy only had eyes for the real thing.

Ed was a glorious sight and Roy did not know how to drink him in to the fullest, his new grown-up body and the unfamiliarity of his bare skin, his hair out of its braid or his face free of its scowl. His every moan was more of a laugh, and his abs contracted with every motion of his hips, thighs hard with tensing muscles.

But Roy wanted more than just to watch. He wanted it all.

He placed on hand on Ed's shoulder and, sitting up quickly and without a warning, flipped them over in one swift movement. Ed let out a surprised gasp, but when Roy just began to thrust into him he planted his feet on the mattress and lifted his hips towards him.

He was a responsive lover, one that grabbed at him and urged him on, kissed all the parts of him he could reach, his shoulders, this chest, his jawline.

Roy dragged his fingers through the swath of blond hair and laid bare Edward's thrilled face, the keening noises spilling from his lips.

Faintly he wondered whether Ed had done this before, whether he was just one man in a series of meaningless nights, but then he thought of his own encounters of a similar nature and simply hoped that maybe this was something special for Edward as well, that this was more than just a quick fuck in the trembling dark.

They had never been master and slave, had they? Never human and demon, conqueror and conquered, never a dichotomy as cleanly cut as that. In these past unpredictable weeks they had become... something like friends maybe. Roy's scientific obsession with Fullmetal had given way to an honest fascination with Edward himself, while Edward's haughty hostility had faded into... well, _this_ , apparently.

Not faded then. Evolved. Transformed. Intensified.

As if sensing his thoughts, Ed bared his teeth in a crescent moon grin and reached his hands down between them, his fingers feeling and teasing where they were joined, the rough slide of Roy in his body.

That touch and that grin were enough for Roy. With long forceful thrusts he pushed forward, pushed Edward up along the bed, and Edward laughed and moaned until his breath caught and his metal hand tightened on Roy's upper arm, and then he clamped his mouth over the side of Roy's neck, biting down hard.

Distantly, Roy heard himself groan, but it was lost in the turmoil of his own pleasure, the pain a mere side note instead of an exclamation mark, yet through the haziness of his thoughts he could feel Edward's tongue lapping at the shallow wound.

The flame of the candle surged up so high that Roy was sure he would find scorch marks on his ceiling later on. For a brief moment the entire room was illuminated and the image of Edward's pleasure was forever etched into his retinas.

Trying to catch his breath, he lowered himself onto the bed next to Ed, his lips finding the scar tissue surrounding the metal of his shoulder.

“Sleep,” Edward told him, and maybe he was no succubus, maybe he didn't even have to use his powers, but when Roy's eyes closed he couldn't help but obey.

 

Come morning, the candle had burned down and Edward was long since gone.

 

A blood sacrifice, Roy thought and ran absent-minded fingers over the bite mark on his neck.

“Had a hot night, Chief?” Breda teased in good humor and Roy gave a wistful smile.

“You have no idea,” he said and went back to staring out of the window.

 

He had never told anyone about Edward's existence, had not even hinted at it, so none of his friends understood why he now walked around looking so forlorn, why the thought of going home after work did nothing but make him sigh.

If it weren't for the scorch marks on his bedroom ceiling, the half-eaten sofa, and the bruise on his skin he might even have thought it an elaborate hallucination. But Ed had sat at his table, had slept in his bed, had flung books against walls whenever he deemed them imprecise, and all of a sudden the house felt unbearably empty without him.

 

“Your men are worried about you,” Maes confided over a glass of whiskey, “And frankly, I am, too. You've not been yourself lately.”

And I never want to be again if it means forgetting anything, Roy thought, staring down into his own tumbler.

“Have you ever wanted something so much,” he began slowly, never even looking at Maes, “That you were willing to risk everything else for it?”

“Roy,” Maes sounded worried now, “What are you planning to do?”

What I should have done from the very beginning, Roy thought and downed his drink in one go.

 

The room was dark and dusty again, but this time Roy's jitters had a different cause. 

Still, the incantation rang hollow out of his mouth and didn't even echo off the dark wood.

Just like last time, the candles flashed. Just like last time, smoke shot up from the ground. Edward stood in front of him, wearing the same red coat as before, but his body was no longer that of a boy.

He did not look surprised to be back again.

“Bastard,” Ed said and then glanced down at the circle, “You entirely forgot the security measures this time.”

“I didn't forget,” Roy told him and watched as that pleasant kind of satisfaction flickered across Edward's face.

“Oh?” he said, taking a step forward so that he was standing directly in front of Roy and could look up to him, “Then what took you so long to summon me again?”

“I bought a new sofa,” Roy smirked, “I wanted to enjoy it while it lasted.”

Edward huffed.

“I know other ways to wreck furniture apart from eating them,” he pointed out slyly and Roy cocked an eyebrow.

“Is that so?” he asked, leaning down so that they were breathing against each other.

“Yeah,” Edward said into his mouth, “How about I show you every single one?”

 

Turned out that some things were worth bleeding for.

 

**Author's Note:**

> What was this? I don't know. Did you like it anyway? Only one way for me to find out...


End file.
